What

Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils will come up against each other for the first time in VIVO IPL 2018 when they meet in Match 36.

The Sunrisers, who sit comfortably at the top of the table, haven’t played in five days. Prior to the break, they converted three nearly lost causes to wins and six points. They defended 118 against Mumbai Indians, 132 against Kings XI Punjab and 151 in their most-recent match against the Rajasthan Royals. The bowling department – even without the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar in their last three matches – is definitely the team’s stronger suite. Captain Kane Williamson and coach Tom Moody have tried to infuse a bit of muscle to the batting by including the experienced Alex Hales at the top.

A decision regarding Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s participation will be taken on match day;if he is fit and available for selection, the SRH management will have tricky decision to make – who do they leave out?

The Daredevils, who have 3 wins from 9 matches, can ill afford another loss. In their most recent outing, they held their nerve to clinch two points in the rain-affected match against the Rajasthan Royals. This is the Daredevils’ final away match of the season; they play their remaining four matches at home. They’ll want to win this and return home with the confidence of a win behind them.

When

5May 2018, 2000Hrs (IST)

Where

Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad

Impact Batsmen

Kane Williamson’s name will definitely not feature in discussions about the power-hitters of the world, but the SRH captain has illustrated that one can succeed in T20 cricket evenby playing the conservative brand of cricket. The Kiwi batsman, who has opened the innings and batted at number three, has scored 322 runs – which includes four half-centuries – playing what can be largely categorised as risk-free strokes.

Among the others in the SRH top-order,the Delhi Daredevils bowlers will be wary of Alex Hales(S/R 143.21) and Shikhar Dhawan (S/R in 2018 – 145.0).

Shreyas Iyerand Rishabh Pant are the Daredevils’ two men-in-form.In his last two innings alone, Pant has scored a total 148 runs at a strike-rate of 200.0, hitting a total of 14 fours & 9 sixes. The left-hander, who briefly donned the Orange Cap, will look to carry forward his good form. Shreyas, the only other DD batsman with an aggregate of more than 300 runs, has struck two half-centuries in three innings since being made captain; the 23-year old will look to lead from the front yet again.

The teenager Prithvi Shaw has created a quite a buzz on social media with some of the strokes he has played; the 18-year old has played three innings of substance – including the 25-ball 47 he made against the Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday night. The DD opener is yet another example of a player playing copybook cricket – but laced with a punch – succeeding in the 20-over format.

Impact Bowlers

The SRH bowling line-up is such that it would be unfair to single out one or two individuals as being most important; every bowler has picked up timely wickets and contributed to the team’s cause. Siddarth Kaul, with 11 wickets in 8 matches, is the team’s leading wicket-taker, while Sandeep Sharma has an astonishing economy rate of 4.40 – the best in the competition.

Among the Daredevils bowlers, Trent Boult has consistently picked up wickets; the Kiwi pacer has 13 wickets and will look to strengthen his grip on the Purple Cap.

Team Head to Head

Overall: Matches – 10, Sunrisers Hyderabad won – 6, Delhi Daredevils won – 4

Trivia

In the four matches Bhuvneshwar Kumar played, SRH picked up a total of 23 wickets while conceding 638 runs (27.74 runs per wicket). In the four matches Bhuvneshwar Kumar has missed, SRH have picked up 34 wickets while conceding 493 runs (14.50 runs per wicket).

Kane Williamson has contributed 27.43% of the runs scored by Sunrisers Hyderabad this season. Among players who have played more than one match this season, only one player has contributed more to his team – Chris Gayle, to KXIP’s total.

Delhi Daredevils is the only IPL team against who Rashid Khan doesn’t have a wicket; he went wicket-less in both matches against them last season.

What Next

For Sunrisers Hyderabad: Home fixture Vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore, 7 May.

For Delhi Daredevils: Home fixture Vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad, 10 May.